Hungary scored 0.97 points in the ranking, making it less vulnerable than Romania. (ranking 3rd with a score of 1.59) among other countries in the region, but more vulnerable than Bulgaria (in 8th place with a score of 0.92) and Poland (in 9th place, also with a score of 0.92). Standard&Poor’s credit analyst Moritz Kraemer said Eastern European countries look to be the most exposed to the global credit squeeze, while Asian and Latin American sovereigns, with their trade surpluses and large foreign exchange reserves, are “better insulated” from a worsening of the crisis.

S&P said in the report, that “sovereign downgrades and negative outlook actions have been concentrated among these most vulnerable sovereigns, whereas the least affected generally had positive rating actions,” though it noted, that “domestic political issues were the usual cause for the exceptions to this pattern.” In mid-March, S&P downgraded the outlook for Hungary’s sovereign rating to negative from stable because of the weakening perspective for sustained consolidation of the country’s public finances. The country is rated ‘BBB+’. (MTI-Econews)